Will Liz Swain, Victor Thomas, SRAC and Caddo Common Oppose Providence House At The Shreveport City Council

The Shreveport City Council is scheduled to meet on Monday, June 22, Tuesday, June 23, Monday July 13, and Tuesday July 14.
 
The Shreveport Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) Board recently approved construction of new Providence House facilities at the green shed site on Crockett Street, between Central ARTSTATION and Caddo Common Park. This construction must receive final approval from the Shreveport City Council at its July 14 meeting.
 
Liz Swaine, business editor for the Shreveport-Bossier Advocate, opposed the facility at the MPC meeting, citing her proximity to the site. However, she lives about half a mile away, literally on the other side of the railroad tracks.
 
Caddo Commissioner Victor Thomas, whose district includes the site, also opposed the expansion, despite the fact that The Providence House’s primary beneficiaries are black children and their parents.
 
Rebecca Bonnevier, executive director of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council (SRAC), opposed the expansion at an informational meeting held after the MPC vote and again at a Shreveport Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to approve project variances. Wendy Benscoter, executive director of Shreveport Common Park, Inc., also opposed the project at these meetings.
 
If any of these show up to complain at any of the council meetings, they will no doubt use the mantra, “It’s a good thing, but not in my back yard.”
 
SRAC, Caddo Common, and The Providence House receive funding from the Shreveport City Council, the Caddo Commission and the Community Foundation. How the opposition of SRAC and Caddo Common to this expansion affects  their future funding from these organizations along with private donors is unknown.